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Rep. Kiffmeyer’s voting bill advances in the House 6A Holberg discusses fiscal notes, government reform 6A Rep. Sanders wants to cut size of state vehicle fleet 7A
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DATE ##, APRIL 21, 2009 2011
VOLUME 32, 30, NUMBER NUMBER 8 # VOLUME
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Burnsville Medical Alliance expands initiative
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Nonprofit group seeks to attract tech-sector businesses to city by Stacey Ackerman SPECIAL TO THE DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
The Burnsville Medical Alliance, which began in 2005 as an initiative from the city’s Economic Growth Committee to support medical companies wanting to relocate to Burnsville, is spreading its wings. It hopes to attract another 400-500 businesses in the technology sector, including IT companies, high-tech manufacturers and professional service and consulting companies that support technology businesses. “Seven or eight years ago we looked at the strength of the business community and because of Fairview Ridges and its surrounding medical businesses, we decided to make it (growth of the medical industry in Burnsville) a major initiative,” said Skip Nienhaus, economic development coordinator for the city of Burnsville. Since the initiative began, it has brought an additional 250 jobs to Burnsville, 20 existing medical-related businesses have expanded to Burnsville and 24 new medical-related businesses have opened in the city. “There are more companies in Burnsville supplying medical device companies than we were aware of when we began the initiative,” said Nienhaus. The Burnsville Medical
Alliance is a collaboration of people dedicated to helping Burnsville ’s business community thrive. Nienhaus It is managed by the city of Burnsville, but several people are involved in the initiative, including the Chamber of Commerce president, the Economic Growth Committee and several business owners. “We are there to help any existing companies grow and hope to attract similar types of companies to come to Burnsville,” said Nienhaus. The Burnsville Medical Alliance is not a membership organization, as many people mistakenly believe. The initiative offers free support to all medical-related companies in Burnsville, and soon that will expand into the technology sector as well. It offers networking events and provides up-to-date industry information to Burnsville’s business community. The Alliance is a member of Minnesota Valley MedNet, a medical marketing organization in the south metro; LifeScience Alley, a metro-wide medical marketing group, and BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota, which promotes bioscience business in the state. Darlene Miller, president and CEO of Permac Indus-
tries, a medical device manufacturing company in Burnsville, has been involved with the city’s initiative since its inception. “The Burnsville Medical Alliance has been a strong partner uniting community leaders such as City Council members, city staff, and CEOs of businesses in Burnsville for a common goal of positive growth in the medical industry,” Miller said. “Now I am excited we have broadened our scope to include STHEM (Science, Technology, Engineering Healthcare and Math) companies. The more information and support we can all share and provide to bring potential new businesses to Burnsville and to those of us already here will bring a stronger, healthier and more financially stable, inviting city.” The decision to incorporate STHEM companies is to support the science, technology, engineering and math training that Burnsville’s School District 191 has heavily invested in, along with the nanotechnology program offered at Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount. “A lot of cities across the country have similar initiatives,” Nienhaus said. “Every city does it a bit differently. In Burnsville, our city employees are more hands-on.” One success story that came from the Burnsville Medical
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Rosemount National seized by federal regulators, acquired by Central Bank by Jessica Harper DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
Rosemount National Bank was closed last week by federal regulators and acquired by Central Bank of Stillwater. This is Minnesota’s first bank failure of the year. Rosemount National’s sole location at 15055 Chippendale Ave. W. in Rosemount was closed April 15 and reopened
April 16 as a Central branch. This is one of many failed banks acquired by Central. Since the financial crisis began four years ago, Central Bank acquired five failed institutions throughout the nation. This more than doubled its assets from $300 million to $777 million. “We are always interested in the opportunity to expand our branches in the metro,” said
Larry Albert, president and CEO of Central Bank. Albert said he expects customers will experience a seamless transition. Rosemount National was founded in 1982, specializing in commercial loans backed by real estate. When the real estate market fell, Rosemount National became unstable.
The Federal Reserve increased its oversight on Rosemount National in 2010 because it had been losing money for more than a year. According to the reserve’s report, the bank lost $917,000 in 2008 and $2.5 million in 2009. Rosemount National’s total assets were $38 million at the end of 2010. Its total equity
dropped from $5.6 million in 2008 to $899,000 in 2010. Out of 402 Minnesota banks, Rosemount National ranked 296th by assets as of Dec. 31, 2010, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Although the financial crisis has caused a significant spike in bank seizures throughout the nation, bank shutdowns in
Minnesota have been relatively low, said Greg Hernandez, a spokesperson for the FDIC. Minnesota had eight bank seizures last year, which was considerably fewer than other states such as Florida and Georgia, which had 29 and 21 bank seizures, respectively. Jessica Harper is at jessica.harper@ecm-inc.com.